The Charlotte Hornets are fighting for the last playoff spot in the East and Monday they played the Boston Celtics, another playoff contender. This obviously was a very important game and Lance Stephenson stayed on the bench as he received a DNP-CD from Steve Clifford.

Center Brook Lopez will be under contract through 2015-16 with the Brooklyn Nets should he exercise his player option for next season, which is worth $16.74 million. Early in the season, many followers of the team felt Lopez was likely going to opt in based on his history of injuries and the amount of the player option. When asked recently, Lopez said no decision has been made yet as to when he will be a free agent -- 2015 or 2016.

The Denver Nuggets claimed guard Ian Clark off waivers on Saturday after the Utah Jazz released him last Thursday. Clark looks at joining the Nuggets as a "fresh start" after practicing with the team on Monday, however he likely won't play that much during the last two weeks of the 2014-15 regular season as interim head coach Melvin Hunt is keen to play the other young players.

The New Orleans Pelicans have been without backup forward Ryan Anderson since Feb. 23 due to his sprained right MCL and Monday came news that he should rejoin the active roster sometime during their three games away from home, according to The Times-Picayune.

The Phoenix Suns have been without starting guard Brandon Knight for nine out of their last 10 games due to a left ankle sprain and after tweaking it on Sunday the team is not sure when he'll rejoin the active roster.

The second 10-day contract signed by guard Jabari Brown expired on Monday, so the Los Angeles Lakers need to let him go or offer a rest-of-season deal. Brown likely helped himself on Monday as he scored 22 points and dished out three assists against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Rob Hennigan's contract as the general manager of the Orlando Magic is set to expire after the 2015-16 NBA season. According to a report from the Orlando Sentinel, Hennigan will have his contract extended sometime in the coming months.

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RUMOR CENTRAL

Rumor Central represents regular tips and analysis from ESPN sources plus numerous credible external sources from every form of media. We will speculate intelligently and consider future possibilities on open-ended topics. If something looks speculative, it was intended to be.